Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) FY2016 Appropriations: Overview

June 8, 2016 (R44133)
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Summary

The Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) appropriations bill includes funding for the Department of the Treasury, the Executive Office of the President (EOP), the judiciary, the District of Columbia, and more than two dozen independent agencies. The House and Senate FSGG bills fund the same agencies, with one exception. The Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is funded through the Agriculture appropriations bill in the House and the FSGG bill in the Senate. This structure has existed since the 2007 reorganization of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations.

On February 2, 2015, President Obama submitted his FY2016 budget request. The request included a total of $46.8 billion for agencies funded through the FSGG appropriations bill, including $322 million for the CFTC.

On July 9, 2015, the House Committee on Appropriations reported a Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2016 (H.R. 2995, H.Rept. 114-194). Total FY2016 funding in the reported bill would be $41.6 billion, with another $245 million for the CFTC included in the Agriculture appropriations bill (H.R. 3049, H.Rept. 114-205), which was reported on July 14, 2015. The combined total of $41.8 billion would be about $4.9 billion below the President's FY2016 request.

On July 30, 2015, the Senate Committee on Appropriations reported the Financial Services and General Government Act, 2016 (S. 1910, S.Rept. 114-97). S. 1910 would appropriate $42.1 billion for FY2016, about $4.7 billion below the President's request.

No full FY2016 FSGG appropriations bill was enacted prior to the beginning of the new fiscal year. In response, a number of continuing resolutions (CR) for FY2016, were enacted. P.L. 114-53 continued funding through December, 11, 2015; P.L. 114-96 continued funding through December 16, 2015; P.L. 114-100 continued funding through December 22, 2015. The CRs generally provided budget authority for ongoing projects and activities at the rate they were funded during FY2015.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (P.L. 114-113/H.R. 2029) was passed by the House and Senate and signed by the President on December 18, 2015. The FSGG appropriations bill was included as Division E, whereas the CFTC was funded with the Agriculture appropriations in Division A. The total provided for FSGG agencies for FY2016, including the CFTC, was $44.8 billion, about $2 billion below the President's request.

Although financial services are a major focus of the FSGG appropriations bills, these bills do not include many financial regulatory agencies, which are funded outside of the appropriations process. Both H.R. 2995 and S. 1910 included language that would have altered the appropriations status of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), changing its primary funding source to the FSGG bill instead of unappropriated funds provided through the Federal Reserve. The Senate committee FSGG bill also included the text of S. 1484, a broad financial regulatory reform package that was previously reported by the Senate Banking Committee, but has not been considered by the full Senate. P.L. 114-113 did not change the funding structure of the CFPB, but did include some of the S. 1484 provisions in Division O.


Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) FY2016 Appropriations: Overview

Introduction

The Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) appropriations bill includes funding for the Department of the Treasury (Title I),1 the Executive Office of the President (EOP, Title II), the judiciary (Title III),2 the District of Columbia (Title IV),3 and more than two dozen independent agencies (Title V). The bill typically funds mandatory retirement accounts in Title VI, which also contains additional general provisions applying to the funding provided agencies funds through the FSGG bill. Title VII contains general provisions applying government-wide.

The House and Senate FSGG bills fund the same agencies, with one exception. The Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is funded through the Agriculture appropriations bill in the House and the FSGG bill in the Senate. This structure has existed in its current form since the 2007 reorganization of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations. Although financial services are a major focus of the bills, FSGG appropriations bills do not include many financial regulatory agencies, which are instead funded outside of the appropriations process.

Administration and Congressional Action

On February 2, 2015, President Obama submitted his FY2016 budget request,4 which sought a total of $46.8 billion for agencies funded through the FSGG appropriations bill, including $322 million for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).5

On July 9, 2015, the House Committee on Appropriations (hereinafter "the House committee") reported the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2016 (H.R. 2995, H.Rept. 114-194).6 H.R. 2995 as reported would have provided $41.6 billion for agencies funded through the House FSGG Appropriations Subcommittee bill. The House FY2016 Agriculture appropriations bill (H.R. 3049, H.Rept. 114-205) would have provided $245 million for the CFTC.7 Total FY2016 funding in the two House bills would have been $41.8 billion, about $4.9 billion below the President's FY2016 request.

On July 30, 2015, the Senate Committee on Appropriations reported the Financial Services and General Government Act, 2016 (S. 1910, S.Rept. 114-97). S. 1910 would have appropriated $42.1 billion for FY2016, about $4.7 billion below the President's request.

Neither FSGG appropriations bill was considered on the floor prior to the end of FY2015.

Continuing Resolutions8

On September 30, 2015, H.R. 719, a continuing resolution (CR) for FY2016, was signed into law by the President (P.L. 114-53). The CR generally provided budget authority for ongoing projects and activities at the rate they were funded during FY2015. Most projects and activities funded in the P.L. 114-53 were subject to an across-the-board decrease of less than 1% (0.2108%). The FSGG section of the CR also included a small number of provisions that designate exceptions to the formula and purpose for which any referenced funding is extended (referred to as anomalies). The FSGG anomalies included in P.L. 114-53 were as follows:

To avoid a lapse in annual appropriations prior to the expiration of continuing appropriations, two more continuing resolutions were enacted. P.L. 114-96 continued funding through December 16, 2015, and P.L. 114-100 continued funding through December 22, 2015, under the same provisions established in the first CR.

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (P.L. 114-113/H.R. 2029) was passed by the House and Senate and signed by the President on December 18, 2015.19 The FSGG appropriations were included as Division E, whereas the CFTC was funded by the Agriculture appropriations in Division A. The total provided for FSGG agencies for FY2016, including the CFTC, was $44.8 billion, about $2 billion below the President's request. Division O of P.L. 114-113 also included some provisions relating to financial regulators that had appeared in the Senate FSGG bill.

Table 1 reflects the status of FSGG appropriations measures at key points in the appropriations process. Table 2 lists FSGG agencies' enacted amounts for FY2015, the President's FY2016 request, the FY2016 amounts from H.R. 2995 as reported by the House Committee on Appropriations, the FY2016 amounts from S. 1910 as reported by the Senate Committee on Appropriations, and the enacted amounts from P.L. 114-113.

Table 1. Status of FY2016 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations

Subcommittee Markup

House Report

House
Passage

Senate Report

Senate Passage

Conference Report

Final Adoption

Public Law

House

Senate

 

 

 

 

 

House

Senate

 

6/11/15

7/21/15

H.Rept. 114-194
7/9/15

None

S.Rept. 114-97 7/30/15

None

None

H.R. 2029
12/18/15

H.R. 2029 12/18/15

P.L. 114-113 12/18/15

Source: Prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

Table 2. Financial Services and General Government Appropriations,
FY2015-FY2016

(in millions of nominal dollars)

Agency

FY2015 Enacted

FY2016 Request

FY2016 House Committee

FY2016 Senate Committee

FY2016 Enacted

Department of the Treasury

$11,522

$13,456

$10,758

$11,139

$11,942

Executive Office of the President

689

630

676

677

692

The Judiciary

7,117

7,387

7,335

7,285

7,203

District of Columbia

680

760

678

689

730

Independent Agencies

2,204

3,597

1,431

13,51

3,304

Mandatory Retirement Accounts

20,980

20,961

20,961

20,961

20,961

Total

$43,191

$46,789

$41,842

$42,102

$44,830

Sources: H.R. 2995, H.Rept. 114-194, S. 1910, S.Rept. 114-97, P.L. 114-113 and Explanatory Statement.

Notes: Totals for each column include funding for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The CFTC is funded in the House through the Agriculture appropriations bill and in the Senate through the FSGG bill. Figures include rescissions and offsetting collections. The mandatory spending for the President's salary is contained in Title VI whereas the rest of presidential spending is in Title II. The mandatory retirement accounts include funding for judiciary retirement accounts. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Dollar amounts are not adjusted for inflation.

Financial Regulatory Agencies and FSGG Appropriations

Although financial services are a focus of the FSGG bill, the bill does not actually include funding for the regulation of much of the financial services industry. Financial services as an industry is often subdivided into banking, insurance, and securities.20 Federal regulation of the banking industry is divided among the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Office of Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (generally known as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB). In addition, credit unions, which operate similarly to many banks, are regulated by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). None of these agencies receives its primary funding through the appropriations process, with only the FDIC inspector general and a small program operated by the NCUA currently funded in the FSGG bill.

Insurance generally is regulated at the state level with some oversight at the holding company level by the Federal Reserve. There is a relatively small Federal Insurance Office (FIO) inside of the Treasury, which is funded through the Departmental Offices account, but FIO has no regulatory authority.21

Federal securities regulation is divided between the SEC and the CFTC, both of which are funded through appropriations. The CFTC funding is a relatively straightforward appropriation from the general fund, whereas the SEC funding is provided by the FSGG bill, but then offset through fees collected by the SEC.

Although funding for many financial regulatory agencies may not be provided by the FSGG bill, legislative provisions that would affect some of these agencies have often been included. Both House and Senate bills would have changed the funding procedure for the CFPB, with future funding to be provided by congressional appropriations rather than the current situation in which primary CFPB funding is provided through unappropriated funds transferred from the Federal Reserve.22 The Senate bill also included the full text of S. 1484, a broad financial regulatory reform bill that was previously reported by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Many provisions of S. 1484 amend the Dodd-Frank Act23 and some have proven controversial in the past.24

P.L. 114-113 did not include the provisions relating to CFPB funding from the committee bills and included a relatively small number of the provisions relating to financial regulation from S. 1484/S. 1910.25

Committee Structure and Scope

The House and Senate Committees on Appropriations reorganized their subcommittee structures in early 2007. Each chamber created a new Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee. In the House, the jurisdiction of the FSGG Subcommittee comprised primarily agencies that had been under the jurisdiction of the Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies, commonly referred to as "TTHUD."26 In addition, the House FSGG Subcommittee was assigned four independent agencies that had been under the jurisdiction of the Science, State, Justice, Commerce, and Related Agencies Subcommittee: the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Small Business Administration (SBA).

In the Senate, the jurisdiction of the new FSGG Subcommittee was a combination of agencies from the jurisdiction of three previously existing subcommittees. The District of Columbia, which had its own subcommittee in the 109th Congress, was placed under the purview of the FSGG Subcommittee, as were four independent agencies that had been under the jurisdiction of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee: the FCC, FTC, SEC, and SBA. In addition, most of the agencies that had been under the jurisdiction of the TTHUD Subcommittee were assigned to the FSGG Subcommittee.27 As a result of this reorganization, the House and Senate FSGG Subcommittees have nearly identical jurisdictions, except that the CFTC is under the jurisdiction of the FSGG Subcommittee in the Senate and the Agriculture Subcommittee in the House.

CRS FSGG Appropriations Experts

Table 3 below lists various departments and agencies funded through FSGG appropriations and the names and contact information for the CRS expert(s) on these departments and agencies.

Table 3. Financial Services and General Provisions Government-Wide Appropriations Experts

Area of Expertise

Name

Phone

Email

Coordinator

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Department of the Treasury

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Executive Office of the President

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Judiciary

Matt Glassman

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

District of Columbia

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Commodities Futures Trading Commission

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Consumer Product Safety Commission

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Cuba

Mark Sullivan

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Federal Communications Commission

Patty Figliola

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: OIG

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

 

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Federal Election Commission

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Federal Labor Relations Authority

David Bradley

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Federal Trade Commission

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

General Services Administration

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Government-wide General Provisions

Barbara Schwemle

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Internal Revenue Service

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Merit Systems Protection Board

Barbara Schwemle

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

National Archives and Records Administration

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

National Credit Union Administration

Darryl Getter

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Office of Personnel Management

Barbara Schwemle

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Office of Special Counsel

Barbara Schwemle

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Securities and Exchange Commission

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Small Business Administration

Robert Dilger

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

U.S. Postal Service

Michelle Christensen

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Author Contact Information

[author name scrubbed], Acting Section Research Manager ([email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed])

Footnotes

1.

See CRS Report R44346, Treasury Department Appropriations, FY2016, by [author name scrubbed].

2.

See CRS Report R44078, Judiciary Appropriations FY2016, by [author name scrubbed].

3.

See CRS Report R44030, FY2016 Appropriations: District of Columbia, by [author name scrubbed].

4.

Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2016 (Washington, DC: GPO, 2015). In addition to the primary budget document, OMB also releases portions entitled Analytical Perspectives, Historical Tables, and Appendix. Citations to the primary budget document will take the form of "Budget of the United States, FY2016," followed by the appropriate page number; citations to the other documents will take the form of, for example, "Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States, FY2016," followed by page numbers. Current and past year's budget documents can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget.

5.

The President's budget does provide totals broken down by congressional appropriations bills. The $46.8 billion total is as calculated by the Senate Committee on Appropriations. The Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is funded in the House through the Agriculture appropriations bill and in the Senate through the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) bill.

6.

U.S. Congress, House Committee on Appropriations, Financial Services And General Government Appropriations Bill, 2016, report to accompany H.R. 2995, 114th Cong., 1st sess., H.Rept. 114-94 (Washington: GPO, 2015).

7.

U.S. Congress, House Committee on Appropriations, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, 2016, report to accompany H.R. 3049, 114th Cong., 1st sess., H.Rept. 114-205 (Washington: GPO, 2015).

8.

See CRS Report R44214, Overview of the FY2016 Continuing Resolution (H.R. 719), by [author name scrubbed].

9.

This section was authored by [author name scrubbed], analyst in Federalism and Economic Development Policy, [email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed].

10.

For further information about the purposes and amounts that are the basis for this alternative formula, see CRS Report R44030, FY2016 Appropriations: District of Columbia, by [author name scrubbed].

11.

This section authored by [author name scrubbed], specialist in American National Government, [email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed].

12.

P.L. 111-5.

13.

This section was authored by [author name scrubbed], senior specialist in American National Government, [email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed], analyst in Public Finance, [email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed].

14.

P.L. 114-38.

15.

For additional information and analysis, see CRS Report R41146, Small Business Administration 7(a) Loan Guaranty Program, by [author name scrubbed].

16.

This section was authored by [author name scrubbed], analyst in Macroeconomic Policy, [email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed].

17.

P.L. 105-277, Title IX.

18.

For additional information and analysis, see CRS Report R43772, The Internet Tax Freedom Act: In Brief, by [author name scrubbed].

19.

An "Explanatory Statement" for the bill was submitted by House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers and printed in the December 17, 2015, Congressional Record. It included summary tables and final committee recommendations. Any recommendations in the House and Senate Appropriations' Committee reports are to be considered in force unless specifically contradicted in the Explanatory Statement.

20.

For a more complete discussion regarding the funding of financial regulators see, CRS Report R43391, Independence of Federal Financial Regulators, by [author name scrubbed], [author name scrubbed], and [author name scrubbed].

21.

For more information, see CRS Report R44046, Insurance Regulation: Background, Overview, and Legislation in the 114th Congress, by [author name scrubbed].

22.

The Dodd-Frank Act (P.L. 111-203), which created the CFPB, provided that additional funding could be requested by the CFPB and provided through the appropriations process, but this has not occurred.

23.

P.L. 111-203, see CRS Report R41350, The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act: Background and Summary, coordinated by [author name scrubbed].

24.

For more information on S. 1484, see CRS Insight IN10278, Financial Regulatory Improvement Act Included in Senate Appropriations Bill, by [author name scrubbed], [author name scrubbed], and [author name scrubbed].

25.

For more information on these provisions, see CRS Insight IN10417, Selected Financial Services Provisions in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016, coordinated by [author name scrubbed].

26.

The agencies previously under the jurisdiction of the Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies (TTHUD) Subcommittee that did not become part of the FSGG Subcommittee were the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, the Federal Maritime Commission, the National Transportation Safety Board, the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, and the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness.

27.

The agencies that did not transfer from TTHUD to FSGG were DOT, HUD, the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, the Federal Maritime Commission, the National Transportation Safety Board, the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, and the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness.